New chair named to Brookhaven Arts Advisory Committee
Brookhaven GA, Sept. 9, 2019 -- Elizabeth Peterson, Director of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art (OUMA), has been named as the new chairperson of the Brookhaven Arts Advisory Committee. The move was approved at the Aug. 27 meeting of Brookhaven City Council.
For the past 10 years, Peterson has worked in higher education, first as gallery director for Eastern Connecticut State University, and since 2012, as museum director for Oglethorpe University. During her tenure at OUMA, she has strengthened museum/community partnerships, initiated the museum internship and independent study programs, and opened the OUMA Research Center. She is also a compass academic advisor and adjunct professor of Art & Culture and Museum Studies.
Also approved at the Council meeting was the appointment of Tim Scarbrough to the advisory committee. Scarbrough is a 27-year resident of Brookhaven and lives in the Cambridge Park subdivision. He is a registered architect and planner working for Jacobs Engineering. Tim brings a global perspective on art in architecture as well as the ability to incorporate diverse thinking into consensus-based solutions.
The committee is now tasked with developing an arts and culture master plan for the City. At the Aug. 27 meeting, the City Council awarded a $90,000 contract to Boston-based planning firm CivicMoxie to guide the creation of the master plan. CivicMoxie has helped develop similar arts and culture master plans for the City of Dunwoody, the Atlanta Regional Council, and Art on the Atlanta Beltline arts projects.
Other members of the Advisory Committee include:
• Sally Eppstein is Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee and studied jewelry design and metalsmithing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Served as artist-in-residency at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve where she is now Art Director. She has participated in Art leaders of Metro Atlanta with the Atlanta Regional Commission.
• Ann Irwin is the owner of Anne Irwin Fine Art in Buckhead, one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded destinations for collecting fine art. She is also a founder and board member of A Hundred Shares Atlanta, an organization that helps groups of women pool funds to create gifts for deserving charities.
• Mary Ellen Imlay has served on the Boards of the Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia Public Broadcasting and Georgia Tech Arts Advisory. Active in the Atlanta nonprofit community, she is Chairman and President of The Imlay Foundation.
• Pavan Iyer is an architect and currently involved as a design consultant in various placemaking projects in and around Atlanta. Formerly associated with the sustainable architecture firm Lake Flato in San Antonio, Texas, he recently taught a class with We Love BuHi at Georgia Tech that tasked students to propose impactful ideas for the people and culture of Buford Highway.
• Robert Kinsey attended Georgia Tech and is currently CEO of the Spruill Center, a private, nonprofit organization, whose mission is to foster understanding and appreciation of the visual arts, by offering an extensive and diverse program of classes, professional artist exhibition series and outreach programs.
• Kelly Marsh has been involved with the Brookhaven Arts Festival since 2004. She is currently Director of the festival. She brings to the Committee a strong business background rooted in sales and marketing and is owner of the award-winning Kelly Did It Again Team – Keller Williams Peachtree Road.
• Aixa Pascual is Managing Director of Advocacy at the Latin American Association. She is a former journalist with BusinessWeek, Time, and People magazines and for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is on Welcoming America’s first welcoming region committee, the Norcross affordable housing initiative and the Georgia 4 Immigrants coalition.
The Brookhaven Arts Advisory Committee, appointed late last year, has roots found in the City’s 2034 Comprehensive Plan. They are examining the entire arts landscape in Brookhaven to identify and evaluate potential public, performing, visual and cultural art projects and report their recommendations to City Council in 2020.
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